Vitamin D low? With peri!!!i

Hi Michelle,

you need a minimum of 15 on skin per day. It doesn't matter what part of the skin it is, can also get it from the window of car or house. But being only 7 means you will need to sit in the morning sun fora a good half hour a day, or more. You can get it from other foods, lacking in D means you should have your calcium checked too as the both work together... Plenty of morning sun should do the trick. If not it means your a little stressed and it's harder to absorb. Grab a mag, a nice cuppa and let the rays give you free D. But supplement for a while to help it along. Good luck. You will be fine. We are all deficient in something, so don't stress...ps look up vit D foods. 

By all means get out in the sun (not that we've had much of it around here lately) it is the best and most natural way to get your Vit D. But, just a couple of points. I'm a gardener, I'm outside a lot, but I too am deficient in Vit D. You need to expose more than just your hands and face to the sun - no sunscreen - for 20 - 30 mins. a day. Avoid midday sun. If you live in northern latitudes it might still be not enough. The higher the latitude the more the UV rays are deflected by the atmosphere.

To be on the safe side, I take Vit D tablets (1,000iu) And enjoy the sunshine - when we get any!

Hi michelle 

i live in southern spain and still have Vit D low levels 

result was 28. ( insufficient ) 

i am age 50 post menopause .

i take 2200iu of Vit D3.   ( Sol gar )

and a chelated magnesium 

i have taken calcium and vit D for ten years ( natecal) but it wasnt enough for my deficiency so changed to the above sol gar 

they say bodies smoothering in sun protection lotion do not get boosted by Vit D from sun so i keep reading 

jay xx

Hi Michelle.

I have a post on the Fibromyalgia forum here with the headline: Vitamin D3 deficiency.

I live in Portugal and my levels were 4,6 (four point six!). I've read and listened to lots of info. and I learned that and if you don't stand in the sun, midday sun (cancer hour) you won't get enough D. If you use sunscreens (which I always do) you'll also get D deficiency. 

Some foods have residual vit. D but it's never enough. So whenever there's a deficiency supplementation is necessary. 

Another important point is that to properly intake D you need vit. K. This is not so common (green leaves, organ meats,  japonese natto) and either you supplement it too (there's K1 and K2 and K2 is the active form and is quite expensive)  or take it in selected foods. I'm now taking organic chlorella in the morning which is supposed to be vit K rich.

Vit. D deficiency causes lots of symptoms including fibromyalgia's. On the other hand you must have regular checks so that the levels are optimised. Some of the forum users from the UK have reported that in some regions they're not allowed to check D (bloodwork) more that once a year. So you're left to the DIY.  

I believe you may have to take D permanently if if on lower doses because the sun in the UK is just not enough.  Take care. Teresa.

 

Michelle

I think the World and 'Her' Wife are really low in Vit D generally, so much so they're adding it to breakfast cereals/foods like crazy now!

I'm naturally blonde, fair skinned and hate being in the sun:  Classic case of someone deficient in Vit D, which I am!

I hate going to my GP, as I'm rarely what I'd call 'ill'.  Did condescend to go to talk with the Nurse Practitioner about Peri symptoms/HRT a bit.  Silly Cow wanted to give me some SSRIs as I'd joked about being tearful whilst watching an episode of 'Don't Tell the Bride'!!!  Blimey, what chance have we got when faced with that!! 

Needless to say I didn't take the prescription.  I managed to get a blood test from her as I said I was aching bad.  She wanted to test specifically for Vit D.  Got a letter after 10 days to make a 'non-urgent' appointment to see her again. 

Why?  For her to prescribe me some Vit D tablets at £8quid-plus! Not Ta.  Went out and bought myself some Menopace Original and some Vit D to top up.  Also trialling some Bioidentical Progesterone Cream (not what she prescribed, but I made this decision, so I'll take the consequences). 

Seems the combo of these is working very, very well for me.  I think the only thing I agree with that the NP said was that by taking HRT will only 'defer' my Peri symptoms, which would be likely to come back when I weaned off the HRT.  I agree:  not a great thought.  But for me, neither is taking Happy Pills for what I believe is a wholly hormonal problem. 

I know tons of women use these at this time, and many have been taking ADs for years: they clearly feel they benefit them personally, some attribute them for saving their lives/marriages, and that's great. 

I, for my sins, are what I would term a Medical Phob - I hate taking any meds, prescribed or otherwise.  At 54, I feel bloody fortunate to not have had a major illness/need to take L/T meds. 

But on a very personal level, I also see how such drugs benefit my eldest sister (71), who has suffered from psychosis for many years.  With them, she is able to lead a fairly good quality of life, for which me and her other sisters are very grateful (as we are the ones who look out for her).  Howevever, because she feels so good on them, she sometimes misinterprets this as being 'better' and that she could cope without them. Result = Sectioned, on a few occasions. Not pretty, believe me.

Sorry, I went right off your discussion thread there!  Essentially, I think all you can do is take the meds, and do all that you plan to do.  If you're in the UK you'll chase the sun, like my two retired neighbours do each day, WHATEVER the season.  They sit in strategic places in their sheltered garden at different times of the day.  Maybe I'll need to get over my fear of skin cancer, put on a lighter SS factor, and get my butt out in the garden.  It ain't gunna be easy, as I truly hate being in the sun.  How weird is that?

Good luck Michelle.  Good to see our Peri/Meno Pals are replying to your query thick and fast!!

Sx

Just take the vitamin d as prescribed and get plenty of sun in this should help bosst your levels